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Tuba & Organ Duo

As Andreas Martin Hofmeir puts it: “With so many pipes, one more can’t hurt.” With Barbara Schmelz, Director of Sacred Music at Stift Nonnberg in Salzburg, in charge of the manuals, ECHO prizewinner Hofmeir cheerfully blows into his rolled-up “16-foot”. Hofmeir’s tuba is a worthy partner to the marvelous sound world of the organ – “The Queen of Instruments”. With masterful versatility, Barbara Schmelz provides continuo accompaniment in arrangements of Baroque masterpieces, and also conjures the sounds of a gentle string ensemble (in Ralph Vaughan Williams’s English Folk Songs Suite) or a street musician’s hurdy-gurdy (in Gade’s Tango Jalousie). This musical framework allows Hofmeir to confirm what the world has long suspected: the tuba is the finest sounding, most beautiful, most advanced, and generally fabulous instrument ever created. Yes, now it can be said.